*but, just like Coleman v. Thompson, it's not really about federalism.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

54 books and counting

I'm back to posting reading lists. Here's 2010, which has been a whole lot of mediocrity. Looking at this list, I remember very few books that were exceptionally good. The Art of Racing in the Rain, The Soul of Baseball, Cardboard Gods, Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone, and The Pittsburgh Cocaine Seven are probably the top five for me. Not coincidentally, four of the five (not The Art of Racing in the Rain), I think I finished in no more than three or four days (or, in the case of The Soul of Baseball, about 14 hours). Born to Run is also an exceptional book, but since it also contributed to my returning to the Vibram FiveFingers (which immediately preceded my stress fracture -- though I'm reluctant to declare a causal link), I'm definitely docking it some points).

January (10)9 Stories by J.D. SalingerEiger Dreams: Ventures Among Men and Mountains by Jon KrakauerWhite Noise by Don DeLilloFarewell, My Lovely by Raymond ChandlerSlapstick by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.Hammerin' Hank, George Almighty and the Say Hey Kid: the Year that Changed Baseball Forever by John RosengrenThe Haunting of Hill House by Shirley JacksonRaise the Roofbeam High, Carpenters and Seymour, an Introduction by J.D. SalingerYou Shall Know Our Velocity! by Dave EggersAmerican Lightning by Howard Blum

February (2)The Book of Vice: Naughty Things (and How to Do Them) by Peter SagalFrom Here to Eternity by James Jones

March (2)Lolita by Vladimir NabokovDarkness at Noon by Arthur Koestler

April (7)Why My Wife Thinks I'm An Idiot by Mike Greenberg2010 Baseball America Prospect Handbook edited by Jim Callis et al.The Road to Omaha: Hits, Hopes, and History at the College World Series by Ryan McGeeThe Soul of Baseball: A Road Trip Through Buck O'Neil's America by Joe PosnanskiThe Guinea Pig Diaries by A.J. JacobsJailbird by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.Pop Apocalypse! by Lee Konstantinou

May (8)The Punch by John FeinsteinYou're a Horrible Person, But I Like You: The Believer Book of Advice edited by Eric SpitznagelChuck Klosterman IV: A Decade of Curious People and Dangerous Ideas by Chuck KlostermanCardboard Gods: An All-American Tale Told Through Baseball Cards by Josh WilkerSex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs by Chuck KlostermanThe Things They Carried by Tim O'BrienBig Hair and Plastic Grass by Dan EpsteinArmageddon in Retrospect by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

June (3)Soccernomics by Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski Player Piano by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.For Love of the Game by Michael Shaara

July (2)You Gotta Have Wa by Robert WhitingWrigleyworld by Kevin Kaduk

August (4)U2 by U2 by U2Catcher in the Wry by Bob UeckerMint Condition: How Baseball Cards Became an American Obsession by Dave JamiesonThe Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

September (5)This Land Is Their Land by Barbara EhrenreichThe View from the Upper Deck by D.J. GalloLong-Range Goals: the Success Story of Major League Soccer by Beau DureBorn to Run by Christopher McDougallHomer's Odyssey by Gwen Cooper

October (5)Earth: a Visitor's Guide by Jon Stewart et al.Odd Man Out by Matt McCarthyThe Pittsburgh Cocaine Seven by Aaron SkirbollBig Fish by Daniel WallaceKiss It Good-Bye by John Moody

November (4)Deadeye Dick by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.Ball Four by Jim BoutonThe Lost Dogs by Jim GorantActual Innocence by Barry Scheck, Jim Neufeld and Jim Dwyer

December (2)Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone by Rajiv ChandrasekaranHow to Lose Friends and Influence People by Toby Young